Darling come home for Christmas
by eyebrows-baby1.0
Summary: A mafia boss schemes to tear his boyfriend away from work long enough to have him back in his arms for Christmas.


"Alfred? What on earth are you calling me for at work? Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wai-"

Alfred spoke quickly, breath ragged and slightly hysterical, "The Christmas tree is moving on its own."

A few moments passed as Arthur quizzically stared down his cell phone. He then proceeded to apologize to his fellow board members as he excused himself from the meeting, briskly walking out towards the hall in a discreet area where he felt he could talk freely without the worry of prying ears listening to every word. Raising the phone back up to his ear, he was about to speak when he heard a string of incoherent ramblings coming from Alfred.

Sighing, he said, "…Come again?" He couldn't believe what his boyfriend had just said.

"The tree is possessed and I need you to come home right now before I lose my mind!" On the other end of the line, Arthur could hear the shaky, quick breathing coming from Alfred as he spoke.

"…Is this a joke? You, Alfred F Jones, the number one mob boss in all of New York City….is frightened by a tree shaking? Alfred this is honestly the worst possible joke you could have come up with." Arthur chuckled into the phone.

"Do I sound like I'm laughing to you?" Alfred's voice finally resumed its usual harsh and cynical tone as he spoke.

"Ah, no, no you sound perfectly delusional to me." He smirked into the phone.

"…Listen, I know it sounds crazy. I get that. But I'm telling you the Christmas tree moved on its own and I don't feel safe here all by mysel-!" As quickly as the call began, it ended abruptly with the sound of Alfred's voice screaming out in fear.

Arthur screamed into the phone, "Alfred…Alfred!?" yet, no one answered. He pressed the phone to his ear in hopes of hearing something, anything from his boyfriend in reassurance that everything was all right, that one of Alfred's old enemies hadn't come back to get him, but all he received in return was the sound of static on the other end of the line to fill the silence in the cold, empty hallway he now stood in.

—-

As Arthur pulled into the driveway of the home he and Alfred shared, he barely registered anything going on around himself. Making haste with the key in hand and office matters all but forgotten, Arthur bounded through the front door, rushing, racing through halls he knew like the back of his own hand. Yet today, the same halls now seemed longer and more unfamiliar than they ever had before. He ran and ran until he reached their living room where Alfred had last been according to their earlier call. Alas, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Arthur was met by the sight of Alfred's phone lying face down on one of their tables, broken and completely drained of life. After a brisk inspection of the phone, Arthur's heart beat faster and his palms began to sweat. Gulping, he turned toward the fireplace where their tree was kept and started to approach but stopped upon hearing a creak from his right. Cautiously, he turned toward the direction of the sound and he could see the kitchen door open ajar, a shadow moving quickly underneath. With no weapon in hand and his lover's life on the line, Arthur pulled out his phone from his coat pocket, opening the camera app as he approached the creaking door.

He couldn't breathe as he pushed the door open, phone in hand raised in defense as he quickly surveyed the area for any sign of the shadow he'd seen earlier. Letting out a breath of air, Arthur straightened himself up, lowered his phone slightly and began to make his way out the door when the eerie silence of the room was penetrated by a shrill scream directly in his ear and instinctively he raised his phone up again in a defensive gesture, rapidly taking pictures of his assailant in quick flashes of blinding light. The assailant's weapon- an iron frying pan- dropped with a clang and a bang onto the tiled floor as he hunched over in pain with covered eyes. As Arthur struggled to regain his breath from the shock of that encounter, he looked over at the man, analyzing him from head to toe for a moment, until suddenly he gasped in realization.

"Alfred?!"

The assailant had been in the process of rubbing his eyes with the back of his ugly Christmas sweater, in hopes of clearing them from having been blinded by phone light moments ago, when he heard his name being called out by a familiar voice. Looking up, he blinked a few times before finally being able to see who the man was.

"Arthur? Why the fuck did you take pictures of me with the flash on-" Alfred was cut off as Arthur quickly gathered him up in his arms, squeezing him so tightly that Alfred thought he might die. Alfred was ready to protest the hug until he felt a shudder coming from Arthur's body along with the sound of soft whimpering as Arthur buried himself deep into the crook of Alfred's neck.

Sighing with a slight smile on his face, Alfred allowed his boyfriend a minute or two to hug him until he absolutely couldn't take not having enough oxygen in his lungs any longer. Pulling back slightly, Alfred gazed at Arthur's reddened face while gratefully swallowing a mouthful of air to fill his once-empty lungs.

Taking a shaky breath, Arthur's eyes gazed sternly at Alfred's as he said, "What on earth was going through that thick skull of yours to allow yourself to drop your phone and let it break? Not to mention letting it lose all battery life-I tried to call you several times you know-Oh and don't get me started on why you were hiding behind the kitchen doo-"

"Thick skull? Hey, I'm not the one who thought it was a good idea to fight off a potential burglar by having a photoshoot with them! I mean really Arthur, what did you think that would've accomplished?" Alfred sniggered as he grabbed Arthur's phone, scrolling through dozens of blurred pictures of himself taken moments prior.

"I'll have you know that it was a very good idea considering the circumstances-"

"Oh, you mean the fact that you couldn't find a real weapon in a house that happens to have a whole artillery of guns? Is that the circumstance you're referring to?" Alfred looked up at Arthur, arms crossed and eyebrows raised in disbelief.

With a sigh, Arthur turned, slightly away from Alfred as he ran his fingers messily through his blonde hair as he said, "You know how I feel about using guns."

"Maybe you should've thought about that before getting involved with a mob boss-"

"Oh? Didn't a certain someone say he'd protect me so I wouldn't even have to let my finger touch a trigger?" Arthur snorted.

Alfred's eyes hardened at that. For a moment, he stared at Arthur-eyes unrelenting- before sighing, turning towards the kitchen window saying, "I can't always be there to protect you Artie, not the way I'm living. I gotta be able to know you can protect yourself even when I can't reach you."

"That doesn't mean I have to use a gun to protect myself." Arthur insisted as he followed behind Alfred for a step or two, before coming to an abrupt halt when Alfred suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, causing Arthur to go crashing face-first into his back. As Arthur readied himself for another long-winded rant, Alfred spoke.

"Ya know, I'd just love to answer all your fancy questions and keep arguing over bullshit, but we have bigger problems to worry about!" Alfred whispered while pulling Arthur down below the kitchen window, leaving their heads up high enough to see into the living room.

The living room was shrouded in darkness, save for the light coming from the tree in its corner of the room. A messy trail of pine needles and ornaments were strewn across the floor, Christmas lights trailing after the tree as they slipped off from their previous positions. As Arthur gazed out into the darkness in the direction of the tree, he was met by a pair of eyes gazing back at him, theirs more sinister looking than his. Eyes widening, Arthur quickly pulled himself and Alfred's heads down further towards the kitchen floor and away from the windowsill.

As Arthur struggled to understand what he had just seen, Alfred reached over, gripping his boyfriend's hands tightly while leaning in close, whispering, "You saw them didn't you? I saw them too, e-earlier when I called you. That's when I dropped my phone and ran here to find some way to protect myself. I was so scared Artie, I-I just wanted you home so bad and you know how much I hate the dark-"

Alfred was suddenly cut off by the sound of low growling and rustling permeating the already tense atmosphere. He turned to Arthur, eyes teary and lips quivering. Arthur grabbed the abandoned pan, pushing it into Alfred's hands while motioning for him to stay quiet. Arthur then slowly opened the creaking kitchen door, leading them out into the living room where the tree stood looming over them.

—-

Surrounded by darkness, the pair hastily bounded forward towards the overly decorated tree in the corner of the living room, narrowly avoiding pricking themselves on pine needles and ornaments strewn about the floor. Upon arrival, Arthur gestured for Alfred to hand him his phone, a gesture Alfred rolled his eyes at as he retrieved the phone from his sweatpants. Returning their attention to the tree, Arthur approached first, phone in hand with his finger at the button ready to blind the intruder in hopes of gaining the upper hand. Alfred closely followed behind, gripping the iron pan tightly in his hands, prepared to save Arthur if need be. As they were just about to close in on the tree from both sides, it shook suddenly, causing the pair to jump back slightly as they watched the skirt at the base of the tree rise up and a lump from underneath makes its way towards the back of the tree.

"A-Artie!" Alfred shrieked, eyes widening at the sight.

"Shush! Love calm down, I have a plan. You head off to the left side of the tree and I'll be on the right. When I say three, we move in, surrounding the guy on all sides and you knock him unconscious." Alfred whispered quickly as he glanced at Alfred for confirmation.

Alfred nodded and without delay, prepared to carry out their plan as Arthur described. The two got into position, each holding their respective weapons in hand as the lump underneath the skirt moved around the back in plain sight.

Under his breath, Arthur counted, "One…two…..three!" just when the skirt was lifted and uncovered by the lump, Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide and mouth agape at the view of the intruder who had caused them paranoia this evening. Huddled underneath the tree's skirt was a litter of kittens mewling as they pounced playfully near their Scottish fold mother Main coon father. Gasping and eyes sparkling in glee, Arthur turned around to relay the good news to his husband. Unfortunately, it was at this moment Alfred chose to spring into action, harshly slamming the pan down onto Arthur's head, causing him to collapse on the ground with a loud thud.

Alfred stepped back to marvel at his work, eyes slanted and mouth pulled up in a smirk, saying, "Sorry hun, can't have you hurting our cats can we?"

As poor Arthur lay dazed on the ground, Alfred took it upon himself to approach the family of cats, laughing as the Scottish fold frowned at him, turning its nose up in a disapproving look while her Maine Coon mate smiled and purred at Alfred instead. With a mischievous grin on his face, Alfred leaned down whispering, "You guys were amazing actors."

And the kittens purred in response.

—-

As Arthur came to, he felt a pounding in the back of his head from where he'd been struck. Wincing, he carefully lifted himself off the couch he'd been moved to, sliding off the large crotched blanket as he groaned. Before he could take a step forward he felt hands grab him, pulling him back down towards the couch as a chastising voice spoke.

"Arthur darling, are you trying to end up in the hospital?" Alfred tsked, plopping himself down onto the edge of the couch across from his slightly dazed boyfriend.

"W-what happened? Last I remember, the cats-"

"Yes, the cats are all fine. It seems as though they wanted to play a little game of hide-and-seek and it led them underneath the tree." Alfred said nonchalantly as he pointed over towards the Maine coon with his cigar, watching as the cat playfully poked its paw on the fold's face, causing a small hiss to emerge from between its lips. Alfred chuckled as he watched the pair's antics.

At Alfred's lack of concern for his wellbeing, Arthur silently cursed the man. He should have known Alfred's sweet demeanor would fade once he was no longer frightened. Huffing. Arthur slowly began to take notice of the air. It was heavily scented in Alfred's cigar smoke, making its way towards Arthur's nose as he inhaled deeply, the familiar smell of soot taking root.

"Love, what did we say about smoking in the house? It smells absolutely dreadful." Arthur chided, rolling his eyes with a scowl on his face.

At this, Alfred playfully swatted Arthur's arm saying, "Oh come on Arthur, don't go ruining my fun, especially when you haven't been home all day to celebrate Christmas with me."

"Besides," Alfred smiled slyly as he took a slow, lengthy drag on the cigar, leaning down towards Arthur until their lips were just barely touching, "…you know you like the taste." A pool of blue ocean deep eyes clashed with emeralds as Alfred stared in silent wanting. Gazing deeply back into his lover's eyes, Arthur tilted his head, quickly crashing his lips with Alfred's, smoke filling his lungs as their lips danced sensually with each other in a battle of wits. Twisting and turning their heads this way and that, the two continued their dance up and off the couch, gripping each other as they spun around and around towards their bedroom door at the end of their winding hall.

As the door slammed shut behind them, the two mates began to cuddle up near each other as they watched their kits playfully swat Christmas ornaments. Meanwhile, outside the house, a lone figure of a man stood staring into the frostbitten window in the couple's living room as he slowly lifted a phone from his coat pocket, selecting the first number that came up under the speed dial option.

"Yeah boss, looks like I got some news for you that's to die for."


End file.
